Romanoff sells Denver house to fund Senate bid

Andrew Romanoff is willing to bet the roof over his head on his bid for Senate in Colorado.

Two weeks before the primary, the Democratic primary hopeful has sold his house in Denver and plans to use the $325,000 in proceeds to finance his bid to unseat Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). “I’m never home anyway,” Romanoff tells the Denver Post’s Michael Booth.

Needless to say, it’s a huge risk. Though he got a surprise endorsement last month from former President Bill Clinton, Romanoff lags Bennet both in the polls and in the fundraising race. According to the most recent campaign filings in the race, Bennet had nearly $2.3 million in the bank on June 30, compared with Romanoff’s $465,000. Still, Romanoff tells the Post he’s “increasingly confident” in the race. “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I was going to win,” he says.

While Romanoff’s action is drastic, he’s still leagues away from the real heavy hitters financing their own political campaigns. Former World Wrestling Entertainment chief Linda McMahon, who is running for Connecticut’s open Senate seat, has already loaned her campaign more than $22 million — making her the top self-funded Senate candidate so far in 2010, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Other big spenders on the list: Florida Democratic Senate hopeful Jeff Greene, who has loaned his campaign almost $5.9 million, and Republican Carly Fiorina, who has spent more than $5.5 million to unseat Sen. Barbara Boxer in California.

Of course, most of this spending — save for McMahon’s — pales in comparison to what it costs to win a gubernatorial race these days. In Florida, Republican Rick Scott has spent nearly $23 million of his own cash to win the GOP nomination in the governor’s race. The biggest spender of all: California GOP gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman, who has loaned her campaign at least $90 million so far.